


The Answer to the Question

by KaT_John_Adams



Category: Elsewhere University (Webcomic)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:22:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27101899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaT_John_Adams/pseuds/KaT_John_Adams
Kudos: 7





	The Answer to the Question

There was a question in my mind. It began as a small, itchy, little thought, but slowly made its way into the space between my thoughts and eyes and I had to wonder at it.

So that night I wore three charms and a ring of meteoric iron, brought a bag of offerings, and wandered into the trees.

Stupid, I know, but sometimes that is just how an adventure starts - not a mysterious quest giver, but a question you must answer. So I set out to adventure with meager armor, few supplies, and armed with nothing but generosity and a curious soul. Had I known, would I go anyway? I think there was never a choice.

Into the dark I wandered. The moon was waning and lit little. The stars could do nothing but help me stay the course. The way was steep and shallow and thick and thin. I was yet never out of breath.

Before long I met a creature, almost shaped like a human but wide as They were tall, with muscles threatening to escape Their skin. They stood, directly in my path, and snarled and slobbered. My heart raced in my tightening chest but I walked up to Them, and They did not move.

For a tremorous moment I considered turning and running, but They would simply have run me down. I could not escape. So instead I reached into my bag and brought out a loaf of bread I had made.

“Freely given. I offer no compromise, and will not change my course.”

They refused the bread and howled, screaming to shake my vision. I did not flinch, or think I did not, the bread fell from my fingers, a refused offering. I have heard this voice before a thousand times, the defiance and hate was familiar, but could not shake me in that familiar place.

“I will not yield. I claim my path, freely. You met me here. You cannot stop me.”

And so I stepped forward, and They did move, giving way grudgingly and with loathing, but unable to halt me.

Next I met a beautiful Creature which stood also in my path. I walked up, still afraid but unwavering. Again, I reached into my bag and drew forth a book, filled with stories and words that had inspired me.

“Freely given. I offer no compromise, and will not change my course.”

The wondrous being accepted the book gladly and smiled.

“Of course. You shall go on your way but before you may go on, you must meet my challenges.”

I could see no alternative. My way was barred to me unless this being let me go, so I acquiesced. Please do not judge me harshly - my need was everything, and my options few.

In a moment that spanned years I performed task after task. Spoke to dozens, reciting the correct words. Put my self through trials that I could barely understand. As a whole, it was a significant and dire thing, but the individual works felt redundant and meaningless.

And with each task the question, “But perhaps you are unsure? Don’t you want to turn back? Will it not be hard? So much easier to go back now.”

I refused to answer each time, and in a blink that lasted a half-score years, it was over.

The creature smiled and I felt no malice but no warmth either as They stood to the side and allowed me to pass.

Finally, I came to the one I knew I would have to face. The one I feared and needed. They stood before me and I did shake, almost fled. They were a bright light, as total as the sun. As stunning as a bolt of lightning but whole and real and manifest.

I reached into my bag and pulled out a folder, filled with papers and records and plastic cards. The being accepted them and they dissolved into that form like water disappears into the sea.

“Freely given. I offer no compromise, and will not change my course.”

And what happened next? It is a meager way to end an adventurous tale, perhaps, but little came next, little worth telling here. All that has changed is my happiness. I am, for once, finally seeing in the mirror the person I am behind my eyes. And I have never been more euphoric in my skin.


End file.
